Treatment of bundles of artificial fibers



March 7, 1939.. H. VONIIRECKLINGHAUSEN ET AL 2,149,708

TREATMENT OF BUNDLES OF ARTIFICIAL FIBERS Filed Feb. 11-, 1937 Hans z/onRecklzln g/zauaen Paud Saff'ert Inventors By TheirAfzorneys PatentedMar. 7, 1939 Hans-Von Recklinghausen, Dessau in Anhalt, and

Paul Saifert, Wolfen Kreis Bitterfeld, Germany, assignors to I. G.Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft, Frankfort-on-the-Main, GermanyApplication February 11, 1937, Serial No. 125,230 In Germany February13, 1936 1 Claim.

Our invention relates to the treatment of bundles of artificial fibers.

One of its objects is an improved process of treating bundles ofartificial fibers. Further ob- 5 'jects will be seen from the detailedspecification following hereafter.

This invention relates to an improvement 1''. or modification of thatdescribed in the application Ser. No. 55,308 filed December 20, 1935(British Patent No. 451,944) of which one of us is a coinventon Theessential feature of the process described in that application is thecontinuous treatment of a wet bundle of fibers of considerable thicknessunder conditions free from tension. For the success of the process it isnecessary that formation of knots and entanglements in the bath, evenwhen-,there is a considerable accumulation of the fibers therein, shouldbe avoided in order that the bundle of threads may travel smoothlythrough the several baths. The greater the amount of bundle in anyindividual bath the more difficult it generally is to ensureundisturbed'travel of the bundle, while on the other hand a large storeof bundle in the baths facilitates a longer period of treatment andsaves space.

The present invention is based on the observation that the entanglementof the bundle in the baths may be effectively prevented and the quantityof bundle in the baths may be increased if care is taken that thedescending bundle does not float even temporarily on the surface of thebath but passes without delay vertically or nearly vertically throughthe surface. This cannot always be attained without assistance in thecase of dry or squeezed bundles of fibers by permitting a free descentof the bundle, since the continuous passage through the surface isfrequently interrupted by air bubbles adhering to the bundle. In theprocess of the invention the satisfactory introduction of the bundle offibers into the liquid of the bath is secured by so wetting and therebysimultaneously charging with liquid the bundle of fibers which isdescending into the bath,-that the bundle passes through the surface ofthe bath without check and deposits itself in the vessel continuouslyand uniformly. For this purpose the bundle is preferably supplied withsuch quantity of a suitable liquid that it is practically soaked and maypractically be contained in a column of liquid in passing into thetreating liquor of the bath.

The descending bundle may be thoroughly wetted by conducting it througha funnel-shaped 5 vessel, the bottom opening of which is preferably ofsuch diameter, that the bundle and the liquid continuously running tothe funnel can pass through the opening without disturbance. It isadvantageous to place this funnel device at such a height above thesurface of the bath that 5 the weight of the wetted bundle incombination with that of the column of the liquid surround-. ing thebundle assists the passage of the latter through the funnel. In order tofacilitate the threading of the bundle the funnel may consist 10 of twoparts so that it can be opened for the introduction of the bundle andthen closed for the operation.

The bundle falling into the bath collects as it comes to rest in theform of a loose layer on the 15 bottom of the vessel from which withoutnecessity of a guide in the bath it can be withdrawn smoothly laterallyor upwardly and without formation of knots. The liquid necessary forwetting and weighting the fibrous bundle may be 20 pumped from the bathinto the funnel. An especially simple mode of operating consists inallowing the. ascending bundle itself to lift to the required height ofthe liquid necessary for wetting and weighting the bundle that is toenter 25 the bath. In this case the ascending bundle loaded with theliquid of the bath is passed between two squeezing rollers or strippingdevices and the expressed liquid is collected by a trough and directedinto the funnel through 30 which the descending bundle is passing. Theliquid raised by the ascending bundle sufiices, when the arrangement ofthe collecting trough is suitable, to wet and charge the descendingbundle with so much liquid that it can penetrate 35 the surface of thebath without check. The distance between the surface of the bath and thesqueezing or stripping device should not be too small (for instance itmay be above 1 m.). The bundle is then suspended and passes between 40the squeezing rollers with its individual fibers parallel to each other.This orientation of the fibers is produced by the downward tension ofthe liquid which the ascending bundle carries.

In order to secure a uniform deposition of the 5 bundle accumulating inthe bath, the wall of the vessel containing the bath may be inclined orthere may be used an endless conveyor band as indicated in the aforesaidapplication Ser. No. 55,308 whereby the distribution of the bundle is 50ensured.

The accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic representation of anapparatus suitable for applying. the process of the invention.

The thick bundle of fibers a, which is issuing from a spinning machineor a sliver can or any other container, is led over a roller 1) or overseveral rollers at uniform rate and passes into the vat c; the weight ofthe bundle assisted bythe liquid column by which it is surrounded fallsvertically into the bath and is received on the curved plane (2, downwhich it slides to the bottom of the vat. In the latter the bundleaccumulates in dependence upon the duration of the treatment in thebath. The fibrous bundle is withdrawn from the bath by means of a rollerI or by several such rollers and at e is squeezed by two rollers, theexpressed liquid being received in the trough g from which it flows intothe funnel 71. through which the descending bundle passes. The funnelpreferably consists of two parts hinged together at i and fastened at Itso that it can be opened and closed. In the drawing the funnel is shownto be stationary, however,

it is also within the scope of our invention to impart a movement to itso that it may follow the bundle if the latter is moved to and fro overthe length of the roller b according to the process described in theapplication Ser. No. 55,308.

Instead of the foregoing device which has been thoroughly tested theremay be used an arrangement by which the liquid of the bath is pumped on'to the descending bundle of fibers.

The following example serves to illustrate our present invention:

An endless bundle of cellulose hydrate fibers having a weight of 10 to15 grams per meter is falling into a bath through a funnel having anopening of 15 mm. diameter at its narrowest part, said funnel beingarranged 2.5 meters above said bath. The bundle is withdrawn from thebath and is brought to the starting height by means of squeezing rollerswith a speed of 12meters per minute. Thefliquid squeezed off by saidrollers, which amounts to about 300 to 500 cc. per minute, is added tothe bundle in the funnel. If necessary the amount of said liquid may beincreased by liquid which is pumped into the funnel.

What we claim is:

A process of continuously washing. after-treating and dyeing bundles ofartificial threads in suitable treating liquids under conditions freefrom tension which comprises guiding the bundle on a substantialdistance through the air so that it falls vertically on the treatingliquid, loading the bundle with treating liquid while it is fallingthrough the air, allowing a considerable piece of bundle to accumulatein the treating bath and withdrawing the bundle from the treatingliquid, removing from the bundle the treating liquid carried with it andusing said part of the treating liquid to load the bundle while it isfalling through the air before entering the treating liquid.

HANS von RECKLINGI-IAUSEN.

PAUL SAFFERT.

